Parramatta's second loss of the season leaves then near the bottom of the NRL ladder - the also went down to South Sydney 49-26 last Sunday.

First half

The match began in spectacular but ghastly fashion, when Parramatta hooker Ian Henderson was knocked out in the opening 10 seconds.

Cronulla had regathered a short kick-off through winger David Simmons, but upon taking the ball, the knee of the Sharks winger collided with the head of Henderson, who left the field in a neck brace.

The Eels initially seemed rattled from the loss of Henderson but they soon recovered to take a 4-0 lead in the eighth minute.

Positioned centre field and within Cronulla's 22, the Eels ran right with impressive half-back Tim Smith dictating the play at first receiver.

Smith threw a long cut-out pass to Morrison who was lurking on the right hand touchline and with a neat inside step, the Parramatta lock was able to work his way past a Cronulla defender to cross for the first try of the match.

The Eels missed the conversion but their try gave them momentum and they spent much of the next 10 minutes camped in the Sharks' territory.

They went further ahead through a Burt penalty goal in the 18th minute but the Sharks struck back to level the score late in the half.

Five metres out from the Eels' line on the far left side of the field, Brett Kimmorley launched an ambitious kick into the in-goal area on the fifth tackle.

His kick found Peachey perfectly who had run through a gaping hole in Parramatta's defensive line to catch and ground the ball on the full.

Covell added the extras and with less than two minutes on the clock, he was called upon again to convert a try to Mellor, giving the Sharks a six-point lead at the break.

Second half

Parramatta started the stronger of the two sides in the second half and despite a disallowed effort from PJ Marsh, they were the first to score through Wagon in the 50th minute.

On the fifth tackle and close to the Cronulla line, Parramatta five-eighth John Morris placed a hanging chip kick into the right hand corner of the field, which was marked by an airborne Eric Grothe.

The Eels winger was heading into touch mid-air, but he was able to pass the ball backwards and on the half-volley Wagon was able to scoop up the ball and crash over.

Burt missed the conversion but the gap on the scoreboard was now closed to just two points.

The Eels looked like they had regained the lead when replacement Henry Perenara crossed the Sharks' line but his effort was disallowed due to an earlier infringement.

It proved to be a missed opportunity for the home side, as they soon trailed by eight points when Covell scored a converted try in the 60th minute.

From a centre field play-the-ball, the Sharks had run left with Kimmorley and he found centre Ryan McGoldrick with a superb flat pass.

McGoldrick changed the angle of his run as he received the ball, and in doing so he attracted two defenders which allowed him to offload to an unmarked Covell.

The Cronulla winger had only the cover defence of Burt to beat, which he did with ease before converting his own try.